Celebrating the Parents-to-Be: Conclusion

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a relaxing weekend. Yesterday afternoon, we heard an excellent interview between Matt Zoller Seitz (editor in chief of the excellent Roger Ebert website and TV critic for New York magazine) and the one-and-only Matthew Wiener, "Mad Men" creator extraordinaire. The topic of discussion was the rise of advertising in NYC and it also brought perspective on Jews coming into their own post-World War II. The event took place at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

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Today, we conclude our baby shower discussion with a few more ideas I found online, along with some more games from the shop.

As I mentioned last week, throwing male-only or co-ed baby showers is a growing trend. If the weather is warm, a popular idea for co-ed baby shower is a "Baby-Q" Bash. From Pizzazzerie, here are bottles of soda from the "Pop Shoppe." The colors were inspired by the expectant baby's navy, brown, and white nursery. For party favors, boxes of s'mores with heating instructions were given to the guests.

From The Cake Blog, I love this idea for a "Milkaholic Sip & See" shower. The decorations were done in the simple, minimalist style that I like. As you can see, the table featured lots of milk and cookies and cow prints, which tied in with the theme so well.

From the blog Once Cool Pick, guests got to take home "Badass Brownie" mixes in these cute tubes. 

Are you the type of parents who want to find out until the big day whether the new arrival will be a boy or a girl? There are a lot of parents who want to be surprised, and this adorable "What Will it Bee" shower is perfect.  love these onesie cookies with a cute little bee on each.  Courtesy of The Cake Blog.

How many of you love sock monkeys? Sock monkeys date date back to the Victorian era and are a popular shower theme. Here is a retro-themed shower hosted by the owner of Posh Paperie, which features the monkeys in little Radio Flyer red wagons. How retro is this?

It's now time to present more games from the shop:

This new listing is the traditional predictions and advice cards. In the first sample, I've used a variation on the "Cute as a Button" theme. Sample #2 features a colorful circus tent background and a cute baby elephant.

Next, we have a game called "The Great Hospital Scramble." This is a take on the popular JUMBLE game. Party guests unscramble items from a typical baby registry. They will then unscramble the letters in circles to reveal words of advice for the new parent.

Also new from the shop is a game called "Name that Nursery Rhyme Character!" In this party game, guests need to guess the identity of 20 nursery rhyme characters based on hints given. This is another great game for a book-themed baby shower.

On Wednesday, I'll present the rest of the baby shower games that we offer. We will also start working on Bingo games for the shop next week.

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Women's History Month Fun Fact of the Day: Women's History Month comes to an end tomorrow. Did you know that until 1978, a woman could be fired from a job if she became pregnant?That year, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was passed. Since then, U.S. employers with 15 or more employees are legally bound to provide the same insurance, wages, and additional support to a pregnant woman that would be given to any employee with medical leave or disability.

In other news:

The Dan Feyer dynasty continued as he took home the ACPT trophy for the sixth year in a row. He beat rival Tylar Hinman by a mere half- (some say quarter- ) second. Read all about it here.

Congrats to Kentucky, Wisconsin, Duke, and Michigan State for reaching the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament! The games will take place on April 4th and 6th at Indianapolis. Check out The Bleacher Report for lineups and predictions.

I've just received breaking news that Gene Saks, the Tony-winning director of "Mame" and several Neil Simon plays, has passed away at age 93. Saks started his career as an actor and his professional relationship with Simon began in 1967. Married to the late Bea Arthur for 30 years, they adopted two sons. He also had one daughter with his second wife, who survives him, along with three grandchildren. Here's a video of Mr. Saks directing the movie version of "The Odd Couple." May he rest in peace.



Wednesday's blog topic will be Easter and Passover. The shop will be closed from this Friday through Easter Sunday. We will reopen on Monday, April 6 at 6:00 a.m. EDT.

Have a PRINTASTIC day!

Kathy

Weekend Edition: A Brief Introduction to Crossword Puzzles

Happy Friday! I hope you all have great plans for the weekend and that the weather cooperates. I'm taking a break from baby shower celebrations to give readers a brief introduction to crossword puzzles.

This weekend, hundreds of solvers from across the U.S. and around the world will gather in Stamford, CT for the 38th Annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT). This event was started in 1978 by Will Shortz, a former editor at Games magazine who is the current New York Times crossword editor. The first tournament had only 149 contestants and the winner was Nancy Schuster (one of my former bosses, who lived in Queens at the time), but the tournament became larger each year and eventually outgrew its home at the Stamford Marriott. Ten years ago, an in-depth look at Mr. Shortz, the New York Times puzzle, and the ACPT was captured in a movie called "Wordplay." After the movie premiered, the tournament got so big it was moved to the larger Brooklyn Marriott in 2008. During the tournament, contestants score points for accuracy and speed. Winners are awarded prizes in 21 categories (including skill level, age, and geography). The winner takes home $5,000. For the last 10 years, two competitors have dominated the ACPT: Tyler Hinman, who took first place from 2005 to 2009, and Dan Feyer, the current five-time champion.

I decided to give it a shot and compete in the tournament when it moved to Brooklyn. I had enjoyed solving crosswords since I was in college, when my roommate lent me her copies of Games. Then I started solving the puzzles in New York Magazine, then I attempted to solve the Puzzles in the Times. I even worked briefly for a company that published crossword magazines. Although the pay was really not enough to make a living, the job was a lot of fun. The first year I competed at ACPT, I performed dismally and decided to work on my puzzle-solving skills to prevent further embarrassment. I skipped the tournament for two years and attempted again in 2011. I competed each year until 2014. Although I never finished in the top half, my standing improved each year. However, there were grumblings that the Brooklyn Marriott was too expensive and the staff was unfriendly. I did enjoy walking around Brooklyn Heights on breaks, however, and there were many restaurant options. After taking a survey of the puzzle community, a decision was made to move the tournament back to Stamford. Sadly, there were too many logistics involved that kept me from attending this year. Good luck to all who are competing! 

The New York Times puzzle is the standard by which others are measured. Did you know that the Times didn't publish their first puzzle until 1942? Before then, the paper had called crossword puzzles "a futile waste of time." The first puzzle was published 102 years ago in the Sunday New York World, and it was created by a Liverpudlian named Arthur Wynne. The first puzzle (see picture on the right) was quite different than the puzzles we see today. Crosswords became a craze in the 1920s after Simon and Schuster published the first crossword puzzle book.  Margaret Farrar was the first Times puzzle editor and held that position until 1968. Farrar instituted the idea that the Monday puzzle should be the easiest, and the level of difficulty would increase each day. Although the Sunday puzzle is the biggest, it's the Saturday puzzle that's usually harder to solve. Farrar also introduced the theme puzzle and established many of the rules for modern crossword construction.

The creation of crosswords is called cruciverbalism. Top constructors (e.g., Brendan Emmett Quigley, Merle Reagle, Matt Gaffney, Ben Tausig, Liz Gorski, Patrick Berry, David Steinberg (probably the youngest constructor on the scene), and Patrick Merrill) make it look so easy. However, crossword construction takes practice, patience, persistence, and a good knowledge of trivia. Some of the constructors still create puzzles the old-fashioned way (on graph paper), but software such as Crossword Compiler cuts down the time it takes to create a puzzle, and is the preferred format for puzzle submissions. If you're interested in crossword construction and submitting puzzles for publication, check out the website Cruciverb for tips and guidelines.

Her are a few of my favorite crossword blogs:

Rex Parker Does the New York Times Crossword Puzzle: Michael Sharp, a Binghamton University English professor, writes one of the world's most popular puzzle blogs. Sharp writes daily commentary about the themes and clues found in the Times puzzle. He likes to link musical videos where applicable.

Diary of a Crossword Fiend: Amy Reynaldo, a top-10 finisher at the ACPT, reviews and writes about puzzles that appear in both print and online, including the NY Times, LA Times, the AV Club, Jonesin', and Crossword Nation, Although she solves and writes about at least three puzzles daily, she has a team of crossword experts who contribute to the blog.

Wordplay (the official NY Times Crossword blog): Deb Amlen's excellent and humorous commentary on the daily puzzles, along with insights on puzzle construction and solving, is well worth reading. Occasionally, Will Shortz pops in with a note or two. Also included is a comprehensive list of crossword resources, including books, online puzzles, databases, and other blogs.

For a comic take on the Times puzzle, read Across and Down by SVA cartooning student Hayley Gold. I love her refreshing take on crosswordese (those obscure words in a puzzle that you don't see anywhere else). She will also make custom comics based on your favorite puzzles.

One of the reasons I started Printastic Party Games was because I loved solving crossword puzzles and wanted to incorporate them in a fun way. As opposed to traditional newspaper puzzles, which contain "filler" words, I create freeform/vocabulary puzzles, which contain only the fun facts about the guest of honor. Samples of crosswords I created for customers appear in the picture below. For more information on ordering, please check out the "Custom Crosswords" section of the shop. I'll create crosswords for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, engagements, graduations, bar/bat mitzvahs, Sweet 16s, retirement, etc.

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Now for our regular features:

Freebie Friday: Because our shop is closed next weekend, I am offering two Freebie Friday games today. Both are word searches; one is for Easter and the other for Passover. Use the puzzles for the Seder table or your Easter baskets! As usual, our free printables are for personal use only.

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Women's History Month Fun Fact of the Day: Before the invention of the airplane, journalist Nellie Bly traveled around the world in just 72 days. Bly was well known for her exposé on brutality and neglect mental institutions. She faked amnesia to gain access to the facilities, Her book, Ten Days in a Mad-House, brought her fame. A movie based on this book will be released later this year.

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Next week's celebrity milestone birthdays:

Happy 30th! 
Jessica Szohr (3/31)
Leona Lewis (4/3)

Happy 40th! 
Pedro Pascal (4/2)

Happy 50th!
Piers Morgan (3/31)
Robert Downey Jr. (4/4)

Happy 60th!
Brendan Gleeson (3/29)
Angus Young (3/31)

Happy 65th!
Robbie Coltrane (3/30)
Ed Marinaro (3/31)
Billy Currie (4/1)
Curtis Stone (bassist, not the chef) (3/3)
Christine Lahti (4/4)

Happy 70th!
Linda Hunt (4/2)

Happy 80th!
Herb Alpert (3/31)

Still Going Strong!
John McLaughlin (88 on 3/29)
Peter Marshall (89 on 3/30)
William Daniels (88 on 3/31)
Richard Chamberlain (81 on 3/31)
Shirley Jones (81 on 3/31)
Debbie Reynolds (83 on 4/1)
Jim Brown (81 on 4/1)
Don Hastings (81 on 4/1)
Doris Day (92 on 4/3)

Click here for a complete list of celebrity birthdays.

Next week, we'll conclude our discussion of baby showers. Topics will also include April Fool's Day, along with the holidays of Easter and Passover.

Have a PRINTASTIC weekend!

Kathy

Celebrating the Parents-to-Be, Part II

Good afternoon . . . this cold weather just won't let up! At least it's not too bad today, but we're even supposed to get more snow this weekend. Sigh. 

Today, we'll continue to look at baby showers and feature some cute decor and food ideas that I found online. 

Let's start off with this adorable fruit salad shaped like a cradle. It looks easy to prepare and makes a great healthy dessert! I was unable to find the source of the photo. 

From the blog for Invitesbaby.com, here's a cute take on the safari theme. 

The storybook-themed shower is a popular one. I love the shabby chic decor by graphic designer Lindsy E. Archer. For the food, she set up easels based on classic children's books (for example, red velvet cake balls for Little Red Riding Hood, ham sandwiches for Green Eggs and Ham, and chocolate-covered strawberries for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Spaceships and Laser Beams always has great products and ideas! In this photo, they feature a "precious cargo" theme for a baby boy. Propeller cake pops are stored in a wooden crate, A "baggage claim" with s'mores is also featured.

Are the parents-to-be expecting twins? The "pea-in-the-pod" theme is one that can be used in a variety of ways. You can use either candy or gumballs for these adorable party favors. Cutest Baby Shower Ideas shows you how.

Finally, from Whipperberry, this is a very creative and original idea called the "Little Bug Shower," which features vintage VW Beetles. Although this party was styled for a baby girl, you can change the colors for a boy or make them neutral if you are not going to reveal the gender. My favorite is the use of a bicycle wheel, where guests wrote their wishes for baby on decorated tags and placed them in the spokes of the wheel. 

It's time to feature some more baby shower games from our shop. Our first game is called "Author, Author!" Party guests will unscramble titles of children's books and then match them with their authors. This is the perfect game for a book-themed shower.

Next up, we have "The Baby Name Race" game. In this game, party guests will fill in a baby boy's (or girl's) name for each letter of the alphabet against the clock. In the sample below, I've used a car theme complete with a checkered border. The customer will receive two 5 x 7 cards on 11 x 8-1/2 inch paper and is customized to fit your party theme!

The last featured game for today is a traditional word search featuring items found in a baby registry. As an option, we can include a hidden message. Once again, the customer receives two 5 x 7 cards on 11 x 8-1/2 inch paper and has a choice of color, wording, or font.

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Women's History Month Fun Fact of the Day: More American women work in the education, health services, and social assistance industries than in any other industry. These three industries employ nearly one-third of all female workers (Source: U.S. Census). . . . Also, Happy 73rd birthday and a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin! 

We would also like to wish happy 81st to Gloria Steinem! The founder of Ms. Magazine, she is one of the leaders and spokespersons for the feminist movement of the late '60s and early '70s.

Celebrating Milestones: We reached 100 "likes" on our Facebook page yesterday. Thank you for all your support, and for my husband Matthew for helping to promote the shop! 

Have a PRINTASTIC Day!

Kathy

Baby Showers: Celebrating the Mom- (and Dad- ) To Be

Good morning on an unusually cold spring day here in the city. I hope you all enjoyed the weekend. 

This week's topic of discussion is baby showers. I confess that I didn't attend a baby shower until two years ago. In my religion, baby showers are not customary because it's forbidden to give a gift to an unborn child. We also do not prepare the nursery until the child is born. Gifts were once thought to draw the attention of dark spirits, which marked a recipe for disaster.  However, attitudes about this superstition have relaxed in more liberal circles and baby showers have become more common.

The baby shower is typically arranged by either a family member or a close friend of the mom-to-be. Baby showers can range from an intimate gathering at someone's home to a fancy affair at a restaurant. This all depends on ones budget and party style. It is recommended that showers should be held later in the pregnancy. By then, the mom-to-be should be sure that all is going well. Traditionally, baby showers were given only for the family's first child, and only women were invited. However, we have seen the rising popularity of co-ed showers over the last several years because men want to be included in the celebration, too. 

A baby shower theme can pull everything together and give the party a "wow" factor. Although some of these themes are boy- or girl-centric, many can be gender-neutral. Here are some popular ideas for baby shower themes:

Baby Feet (Pitter-Patter)
Owls
Ladybugs
Sports
Safari/Jungle theme (Monkeys, Zebras, Elephants, etc.)
Retro
Teddy Bears
Cars
Circus
Gender Reveal
Sea Life (Whales, Starfish, Crabs, Coral Reefs, etc.)
Nautical
Retro
Books ("Goodnight Moon," Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle books, "Pat the Bunny" etc. For this type of party, one would ask guests to bring books for the baby's library).
Farm Life (cows, pigs, rabbits, lambs, etc.)
Wild West
Music
Cute as a Button
Bees
Pea in the Pod (for twins)
Noah's Ark (for twins)
Two Scoops (for twins)

For invitations, it should be mentioned where the parents-to-be are registered so invitees can get ideas for gifts. Sometimes, several people will chip in to buy a big-ticket item.

Playing games has always been a big part of baby showers. I'd like to present some of the games we offer from the shop, and we will be adding more in the near future. As mentioned previously, our games are 100% customizable to fit your party theme, with your choice of event name, color/background, font, and wording. First up, we have three matching games. The first is called "What's In a Name?" In this game, party guests match celebrities with their unique-named offspring.  The sample shown below is for a nautical-themed baby shower.

The second game is called "TV Moms," where party guests match TV matriarchs with their children. This game can also be used for a Mother's Day get-together or invitation. In the sample shown below, I've used a retro flower theme.

Finally, we have a game called "Who's Baby Is That?" I took this title from a "Flintstones" episode. Party guests match the names of animal moms with the names of their babies. Some of these are easy while others are more tricky. In the sample below, I've used a farm theme.

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Women's History Fun Fact of the Day: Each May, Forbes magazine publishes its list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. In 2014, holding the #1 position was German Chancellor Angela Merkel. At #2 was Janet Yellen, the first woman to hold the position of Federal Reserve chair. Also included was Mary Barra, the first female CEO of General Motors. 

Later in the week, I will present some food and decorating ideas for baby showers that I found online. This Friday, I will divert from the baby shower topic to talk about crossword puzzles and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. This is an event I had attended in Brooklyn over the last several years. However, with its move back to Stamford, it was logistically not possible for me to attend this year.

Have a PRINTASTIC Day!

Kathy

Is It Spring Yet?/Celebrating World Poetry Day

Good afternoon on the official first day of Spring! It looks like Old Man Winter wants to hang around a bit longer since we are getting 4 to 6 inches of snow here in NYC today.

Spring is officially called the Vernal Equinox. The name "Vernal Equinox" comes from the Latin language: "vernal" means "spring" and "equinox means "equal night." At 6:45 p.m. EDT tonight, the sun will appear overhead at the Earth's equator. There will be exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. While we welcome spring here in the northern hemisphere, it is the first day of autumn in the southern hemisphere.. This year, it has an unusual distinction of coinciding with both a supermoon and a total solar eclipse. This phenomenon hasn't happened since 1662!

It is said that you can stand a raw egg on its end during the first day of spring? Is this true? Most experts say yes, but you can try this (with patience) any day of the year.

I enjoy the warm weather that spring (eventually) brings, but it wreaks havoc on my allergies. Although the flowers of spring--daffodils, dandelions, lillies, tulips, irises, and lilacs--are pretty to look at, I am highly allergic to the pollen they produce.

You're a Poet and You Know It. Tomorrow, we celebrate World Poetry Day. Poetry is one form of writing I could never master, but I enjoy reading works by others. This celebration is an initiative of UNESCO and was first proclaimed in 1999. The organization recognized the importance of poetry in the arts and wanted to promote the efforts of small publishers who produce poetry books and magazines, as well as the reading, writing, and teaching of poetry. Poetry is strongly associated with other forms of art such as dance, music, and painting. The combination of music and poetry is especially beneficial to children.. Both teach children to develop rhyming skills and notice rhythim in language. To celebrate this day, here will poetry readings at local bookstores, cafes, and schools.Check your community calendars for more information. For an introduction to poetry, along with a list of recommended resources, check out the website Poetry 101.

The second round of the NCAA tournament started last night and will conclude tonight. There have been some surprising upsets and a lot of drama. Today's Freebie Friday is called "March Madness Matchup," where you will match 20 college teams with their nicknames. As usual, just right-click and print. This game is for personal use only and not for resale. Answers will be published next week.

We unveiled a new game for graduation-themed parties at the shop today. For just $7.00, the customer will get two games in one! In the first game, party guests will match famous people with the high school he/she attended. In the second game, guests will try to figure out whether 20 celebrities were either valedictorian or salutatorian of their high school class. 

Celebrating milestone birthdays next week are:

Happy 25th!

Lincoln Parrish (3/22)

Keisha Castle-Hughes (3/24)

Taylor Atelian (20)

Happy 30th!

Keira Knightly (3/26)

Happy 40th!

Guillermo Diaz (3/22)

Melanie Blatt (3/25)

Juvenile (3/26)

Fergie (3/27)

Happy 50th!

Richard Grieco (3/23)

Sarah Jessica Parker (3/25)

Happy 60th!

James House (3/22)

Reba McEntire (3/28)

Happy 65th!

Martin Short (3/26)

Ronnie McDowell (3/26)

Tony Banks (65)

Happy 75th!

Anita Bryant (3/25)

James Caan (3/26)

Austin Pendleton (3/27)

Happy 80th!

M. Emmett Walsh (3/22)

Julian Glover (3/27)

Still Going Strong!

Stephen Sondheim (85 on 3/22)

William Shatner (84 on 3/22)

Marty Allen (93 on 3/23)

Alan Arkin (81 on 3/26)

Rosie the Riveter

Women's History Month Fun Fact of the Day: During World War II, many American women entered the workforce to support their families while their husbands were in combat. "Rosie the Riveter" was the star of a government campaign to recruit female workers for the manufacturing industry and is still an iconic image today.

In addition to my addiction for word puzzles and trivia games, I am an avid postcard collector. Tomorrow, I will be attending the Mary Martin Postcard Expo at the Holiday Inn on West 57th Street.

Update: I've just learned from a very reliable source that today is National Proposal Day. This holiday is set aside for one who truly knows his/her partner and is prepared to pop the question. There are a number of creative ways one can propose marriage. This coincides with the first day of spring, the season for love. For a unique card idea, check out the wedding/bridal shower section of our shop, or you can order a custom crossword for your intended.

Next week's topics will include baby showers and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.

Have a PRINTASTIC weekend!

Kathy